Hinge construction for accordion folding door



A ril 23, 1963 J. s. STARK 3,

HINGE CONSTRUCTION FOR ACCORDION FOLDING DOOR Filed Aug. 8, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 23, 1963 J. s. STARK 3,086,585

HINGE CONSTRUCTION FOR ACCORDION FOLDING DOOR Filed Aug. 8, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY 471,144 $5M April 23, 1963 J. 5. STARK 3,08

HINGE CONSTRUCTION FOR ACCORDION FOLDING DOOR Filed Aug. 8, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Arrow/75.

J. S. STARK Apri -1Z3, 1963 HINGE CONSTRUCTION FOR ACCORDION FOLDING DOOR Filed Aug. 8, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 23, 1963 J. s. STARK 3,086,585

HINGE CONSTRUCTION FOR ACCORDION FOLDING DOOR Filed Aug. 8, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 BY mejm ffiw.

HTTO/EWQi United States Patent 3,086,585 HINGE CONSTRUCTION FOR ACCORDION FOLDING DOOR John S. Stark, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor t0 Clopay Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Filed Aug. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 48,058 Claims. (Cl. 160-431) This invention relates to accordion folding doors and it is directed in particular to an accordion folding door which inexpensive plastic sheet material and inexpensive strips of wood veneer are combined in a unique way to simulate the appearance of an expensive wooden folding door.

From the viewpoints of aesthetic appeal and decorative value, wood is generally recognized as being far superior to the plastics which have been used for accordion folding doors in the past. But, wooden folding doors, even when made of the cheapest of woods, are prohibitively expensive for use in the average home, and actually, outside of their rich appearance, wooden folding doors have many disadvantages compared to plastic folding door. The initial cost is, of course, the greatest disadvantage of wood compared to plastic. Maintenance is another. Whereas a wooden door must be waxed and polished or varnished from time to time, :a plastic door need only be sponged off. Whereas the hinges of wooden folding doors require periodic attention, plastic doors do not require hinges as such; because, the inherent flexibility of plastic sheet material may be used to provide hinge lines upon which the door may be folded as disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,667,218. Plastic doors are lighter in weight than wooden doors, so that simpler, less expensive overhead tracks and slide or roller systems may be used in an installation. Then too, being lighter, plastic doors are easier to manipulate, that is, to open and to close. Wood is subject to cracking and checking and it is aifected by changes in humidity whereas plastic is not. Furthermore, plastic doors may be manufactured by unskilled labor using production line techniques, whereas, wooden doors often require skilled, hand craftsmen in their manufacture.

I proposed, in my co-pending application No. 791,065, that the core sheet of plastic be printed to match, as nearly as practical, the wood veneer .of which the panels were formed. Satisfactory matching of the veneer can be effected although considerable care must be exercised to avoid mismatching. Mismatching of the printing on the plastic core with respect to the wood veneer tends to detract from the rich appearance of an expensive veneer.

It has been an objective of the present invention to provide an improvement in the. hinge construction wherein the necessity of matching the plastic core material to the wood veneer is eliminated.

It has been another objective of the invention to provide an accordion folding door in which the panels thereof are formed of veneer half-panels which sandwich a sheet of flexible plastic core material, the plastic hinge forming strips between panels being covered with strips of wood.

. of FIG. 1.

It may be seen, therefore, that the primary objective of this invention has been to provide an inexpensive folding door construction which has the advantages of plastic,

'and the aesthetic appeal, rich appearance and decorative value of wood.

The wood which is utilized in the manufacture of the doors of this invention is in the form of strips of veneer. Such strips, even though they be made from some of the more expensive woods, such as mahogany, walnut,

cherry and maple, are very inexpensive in comparison to the solid wood panels which are employed in a typical wooden folding door. Thus, in the preferred embodiment of the invention these expensive woods are used, so that when mahogany veneer is used, for example, the ovenallappearance is that of a solid mahogany folding door.

In a preferred form of the invention the door comprises :a flexible core sheet of plastic material having a series of pairs of veneer sheets or half-panels secured to the core sheet, each pair of veneer ha'l-f panels sandwiching the core sheet there-between. The pairs of veneer sheets are positioned vertically in spaced parallel relation to leave narrow bands of flexible plastic core material to serve as hinges for the panels formed by the pairs of veneer sheets. The thus formed door preferably is covered on each side with a very thin sheet of clear plastic material which in part serves to strengthen the hinge band sof core material, but more importantly covers the veneer sheets to prevent them from being marred and to permit an easy soap and water cleaning.

FIG. 4 is a disassembled view of hinge cover of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a folding door employing the invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 6-6 of FIGJ.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a hinge formed in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 showing the door panels in folded condition.

FIG. 9 is a disassembled cross sectional view of an alternative hinge construction.

(FIG. 10 is a view similar to that of FIG. 9 with the hinge elements in assembled condition.

'FIG. 11 is a disassembled perspective view of the hinge cover elements of FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary perspective view of an alternative hinge construction.

FIG. 13 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 13-13 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a disassembled fragmentary perspective view of an alternative hinge construction.

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary disassembled view of an alternative hinge construction.

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary perspective view of a hinge covering strip and,

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary disassembled perspective view of an alternative hinge construction.

As is well known in the art, an accordion folding door is adapted to be mounted in a door frame 20 (FIG. 1), the folding door comprising a series of panels 21 hinged together along lines 22. As shown in FIG. 3, each panel 21 is secured at the upper end thereof to a hook 24 the end of which is connected to an anti-friction button 25 of nylon for example, 'the button being slidable in a track 26. The track 26 is secured by screws or the like,

not shown, to an upper sill 27 of thedoorway.

may be provided with a small handle 31 so that the door may be conveniently moved between opened and closed positions.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the door includes a core sheet 35 which is continuous throughout the door and which may be imprinted with a simulated wood pattern. A pair of veneer half-panels 36 sandwich a portion of the core sheet 35 between them and together form a door panel. A series of such panels 21 form the accordion folding door. The panels are mounted on the core sheet 35 in spaced parallel relation so as to leave a narrow band of core material which forms a hinge 37 between adjacent panels 21.

The thus formed door preferably is covered on both sides thereof with a very thin sheet of flexible plastic material 38. The material 38 not only overlies the outside surface of the veneer half-panels 36 to form a protective covering therefor, but also serves to strengthen the hinges formed by the narrow bands 37 of plastic material. The plastic sheets 38 may be much thinner than the core sheet 35 since their primary function is the covering of the veneer sheets. For example, the core sheet may be from 0.003 to 0.005 inch thick whereas the covering sheets may be between 0.001 and 0.003 inch thick.

A door formed as described, with the panels joined by plastic sheets will function perfectly satisfactorily as a folding door. However, the purpose of employing the veneer sheets is to provide an inexpensive rich appearing door, and the exposed narrow plastic hinge band detracts from the richness of the veneer sheets.

To improve the appearance of the door at the hinge areas, the invention provides wooden covering strips 40 which will overlie the hinge band 37. These strips must be mounted with respect to the door so as to avoid interference with the proper functioning of the door hinges and preferably the hinge covering strips should, as completely as possible, cover the plastic hinge material. To this end, the covering strips 40 are preferably of T-section having a stem portion 41 secured to the plastic hinge strip and a crossbar portion 42 of greater width than the width of the plastic hinge band so as to completely cover the hinge joint.

The stem portion 41 is secured to the plastic hinge band by means of a clamping strip 43. The manner in which the clamping strip 43 is secured to the stem portion 41 is subject to considerable variation as will be discussed below.

As can be seen in FIG. 6, the cover strip for each hinge is mounted on the opposite side of the door from each adjacent cover strip so that each cover strip is located at the apex of the angle formed by adjacent panels. The clamping strip 43 of each hinge is positioned within each angle formed between adjoining panels.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show the two extreme positions of the door panels. When viewed from the cover strip side of the hinge in the unfolded position shown in FIG. 7, no plastic hinge material is visible, the material being completely covered by the cover strip 40. When viewed from the opposite side, the plastic hinge material is visible but any detraction from the appearance of the door is minimized for one of several reasons. First, and most important, is the fact that the folding doors are not normally mounted so as to be extended to such an extreme position. Rather the angular position of the panels with respect to each other as shown in FIG. 6 is the normal position for the doors to take when fully extended. As can be seen, there is a considerable angle between adjoining panels. The thickness of the veneer strips tends to narrow the gap through which the hinge may be seen, the gap being narrowed almost to the width of the clamping strip 43. Thus, in normal use of the door, the cover strip 40 will cover the most exposed portion of the plastic hinge band wherein the clamping strip 43 in combination with the veneer sheets will cover the other side of the plastic hinge.

Second, the core sheet may have a simulated wood grain imprinted thereon. A small portion of that sheet which is exposed having the same characteristics as the plastic covered veneer will not detract substantially from the overall appearance of the door. Third, in constructions wherein the core sheet does not have a simulated wood appearance, the wood under side of the cover strip 40 will be visible through the clear plastic material.

As indicated above the manner in which the clamping strip is joined to the cover strip to secure the two strips to the plastic hinge is subject to considerable variation. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-8, a series of pins 45 are secured to the stem portion 41 of each cover strip. The pins have pointed ends 46 which are adapted to pierce the plastic core sheet 35 and covering sheets 38.

The clamping strip 43 is formed of two sections. The first section 47 has apertures 48 aligned wtih the pins 45. The apertures 48 are, at their narrowest dimension, of smaller diameter than the maximum dimension of the pins 45. Because wood has a certain limited amount of resilience, the pointed shouldered ends of the pins 45 can be forced through the apertures 48 so as to snap the section 47 over the pins 45 thereby securing the sections 47 to the cover strips 40 with the plastic hinge material sandwiched therebetween. Second section 49 of the clamping strip 43 covers the first section 47 and the exposed pins 45 so as to preserve the sightly appearance of the hinge.

In an alternative form of the invention shown in FIGS. 9-11, a tongue and groove connection is employed to secure a clamping strip 51 to a cover strip 52. As shown in FIG. 11, a tongue 53 extends throughout the length of the clamping strip 51. The tongue 53 cooperates with a longitudinal groove 54 which extends throughout the length of the stem portion 55 of the cover strip. FIGS. 9 and 10 best illustrate the dimensional characteristics of the tongue and groove. The tongue 53 has an outside dimension smaller than the dimension of the groove 54 so as to provide a space between the tongue and groove walls which accommodates the material of the hinge band 37.

The clamping strip 5 1 is secured to the cover strip 52 merely by snapping the tongue 53 into the groove 54 with the plastic hinge sandwiched therebetween.

Another feature of the hinge cover construction of FIGS. 9-1l which distinguishes it from the construction of FIGS. 1-8 is the manner in which the visible surface is formed. In FIGS. 1-8 the hinge is made of the same wood as the veneer sheets. In the construction of FIGS. 9l1, the major portion of each strip is made of an inexpensive wood and is thereafter covered with a veneer ply 56 so that its surface is substantially the same as that of the veneer sheets which form the panels 22.

Another form of hinge cover construction is shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. In that embodiment a hinge cover strip 57 has a stem portion 58 which engages the plastic hinge strip 37. A two section clamping strip 59 has an inner section 60 in engagement with the plastic hinge strip 37 and is secured thereto in clamping engagement by spaced screws 62. The screws are covered by the outer section 63 of the clamping strip which is glued to the inner section 60.

The cover strip may be formed principally of inexpensive wood and covered with a ply of veneer 64. Similarly, the inner section 60 of the clamping strip may be of inexpensive wood and the outer section 63 of the veneer matching the panel sheets.

FIGS. 14 through 17 show different designs which may be employed in the cover strips. In FIGS. 14, a cover strip 65 has a concave outer surface 66. A clamping strip 67 may be secured to the cover strip by one of the methods previously described or, it may be fitted with a Christmas tree fastener 68 which can be driven into a slot 69. A series of such fasteners and slots are spaced vertically along the two strips.

In FIG. 15, a cover strip 70 is of triangular section and is shown as being secured to a clamping strip 71 by a Christmas tree fastener of the type shown in FIG. '14. In this embodiment the fastener and slot are reversed.

In the FIG. 16 a cover strip 72 has a fluted surface 73'.

In FIG. 17 the cover strip 74 has a V-shaped outer surface 75. Instead of a stem portion extending the length of the cover strip, in the embodiment of FIG. 17, a stem portion is formed as a series of spaced pins 76 to which a fastener 77 is secured. The fastener 77 has a head 78 adapted to be driven into a bore 79 of a clamping strip 80. FIG. 17 shows that it is not necessary to have a continuous stem portion on the inner surface of a cover strip although it is important to have some means for spacing the crossbar portion of the cover strip away from the hinge strip by a distance approximately equal to the thickness of one veneer sheet 36.

Thus, it can be seen from the several embodiments illustrating the diiferent forms which the invention may take that the invention is subject to considerable variation without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. An accordion folding door comprising a core sheet formed of flexible plastic material; a plurality of vertically extending pairs of wood veneer half panels secured to said core sheet in spaced parallel relation; each pair of half panels being aligned with one another and disposed on opposite sides of said core sheet to sandwich said core sheet therebetween and to form a panel; the spacing of adjacent panels leaving exposed relatively narrow vertical bands of said flexible core sheet, said core sheet thereby forming respective flexible hinge bands between adjacent panels; a clear plastic cover sheet secured to each side of said folding door; said clear plastic cover sheets extending across the said half panels and across the said vertical hinge bands between adjacent panels; an elongated vertical wood hinge cover strip secured to each flexible hinge band in the space between the adjacent panels, each of said hinge cover strips being T-shaped in cross section, each T-shaped hinge cover strip having a head portion which is wider than the space between the adjacent panels, said head portion overlying the hinge band between adjacent panels and overlying the adjacent margin-a1 edge portions of said panels, thereby covering the said hinge band which connects the adjacent panels, each T-shaped hinge cover strip including a stem portion projecting from said head portion and between the adjacent panels and seated against one side of the flexible hinge band, said stem portion being narrower then the spacing between the panels and disposed centrally therebetween, said hinge cover strips being disposed with the head portions thereof residing alternately on opposite sides of said door; and a clamping strip disposed on the hinge band on the side opposite the stem portion of the hinge cover strip, the clamping strip being secured to the stem of the hinge cover strip with the flexible core sheet and the clear plastic cover sheets disposed between the stem of the hinge cover strip and'said clamping strip and clamped therebetween.

2. An accordion folding door comprising a core sheet formed of flexible plastic material; a plurality of vertically extending pairs of wood veneer half panels secured to said core sheet in spaced parallel relation; each pair of half panels being aligned with one another and disposed on opposite sides of said core sheet to sandwich said core sheet therebetween and to form a panel; the spacing of adjacent panels leaving exposed relatively narrow vertical bands of said flexible core sheet, said core sheet thereby forming respective flexible hinge bands between adjacent panels; an elongated vertical wood hinge cover strip secured to each flexible hinge band in the space between the adjacent panels, each of said hinge cover strips being T-shaped in cross section, each T-shaped hinge cover strip having a head portion which is wider than the space between the adjacent panels, said head portion overlying the hinge band between the adjacent panels and overlying the adjacent marginal edge portions of said panels, thereby covering the said hinge band which connects the adjacent panels, each T-shaped hinge cover strip including a stern portion projecting from said head portion and between the adjacent panels and seated against one side of the flexible hinge band, said stem portion being narrower than the spacing between the panels and disposed centrally therebetween, said hinge cover strips and hinge covers being disposed with the head portions thereof residing alternately on opposite sides of said door, and a clamping strip disposed on the hinge band on the side opposite the stern portion of the hinge cover strip the clamping strip being secured to the stem of the hinge cover strip with the flexible core sheet disposed between the stem of said T-shaped strip and said clamping strip and clamped therebetween.

3. A folding door according to claim 2 in which the stem of said T-shaped hinge cover strip is continuous over the length of said strip.

4. A folding door according to claim 2 in which the stem of said T-shaped hinge cover strip has a plurality of pin shaped stems spaced along the length of said strip and adapted to attach the clamping strip to the edge of said stem.

5. A folding door according to claim 2 in which the outer surface of said hinge cover is covered with thin wood veneer of a type matching the veneer of said half panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 396,115 Robinson Jan. 15, 1889 1,697,277 Hoopes Jan. 1, 1929 2,802,522 Collet Aug. 13, 1957 2,829,081 Sween Apr. 1, 1958 2,834,410 Kuyper May 13, 1958 2,897,514 Collins Aug. 4, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 106,394 Australia Ian. 12, 1939 

2. AN ACCORDION FOLDING DOOR COMPRISING A CORE SHEET FORMED OF FLEXIBLE PLASTIC MATERIAL; A PLURALITY OF VERTICALLY EXTENDING PAIRS OF WOOD VENEER HALF PANELS SECURED TO SAID CORE SHEET IN SPACED PARALLEL RELATION; EACH PAIR OF HALF PANELS BEING ALIGNED WITH ONE ANOTHER AND DISPOSED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID CORE SHEET TO SANDWICH SAID CORE SHEET THEREBETWEEN AND TO FORM A PANEL; THE SPACING OF ADJACENT PANELS LEAVING EXPOSED RELATIVELY NARROW VERTICAL BANDS OF SAID FLEXIBLE CORE SHEET, SAID CORE SHEET THEREBY FORMING RESPECTIVE FLEXIBLE HINGE BANDS BETWEEN ADJACENT PANELS; AN ELONGATED VERTICAL WOOD HINGE COVER STRIP SECURED TO EACH FLEXIBLE HINGE BAND IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE ADJACENT PANELS, EACH OF SAID HINGE COVER STRIPS BEING T-SHAPED IN CROSS SECTION, EACH T-SHAPED HINGE COVER STRIP HAVING A HEAD PORTION WHICH IS WIDER THAN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE ADJACENT PANELS, SAID HEAD PORTION OVERLYING THE HINGE BAND BETWEEN THE ADJACENT PANELS AND OVERLYING THE ADJACENT MARGINAL EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID PANELS, THEREBY COVERING THE SAID HINGE BAND WHICH CONNECTS THE ADJACENT PANELS, EACH T-SHAPED HINGE COVER STRIP INCLUDING A STEM PORTION PROJECTING FROM SAID HEAD PORTION AND BETWEEN THE ADJACENT PANELS AND SEATED AGAINST ONE SIDE OF THE FLEXIBLE HINGE BAND, SAID STEM PORTION BEING NARROWER THAN THE SPACING BETWEEN THE PANELS AND DISPOSED CENTRALLY THEREBETWEEN, SAID HINGE COVER STRIPS AND HINGE COVERS BEING DISPOSED WITH THE HEAD PORTIONS THEREOF RESIDING ALTERNATELY ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID DOOR, AND A CLAMPING STRIP DISPOSED ON THE HINGE BAND ON THE SIDE OPPOSITE THE STEM PORTION OF THE HINGE COVER STRIP THE CLAMPING STRIP BEING SECURED TO THE STEM OF THE HINGE COVER STRIP WITH THE FLEXIBLE CORE SHEET DISPOSED BETWEEN THE STEM OF SAID T-SHAPED STRIP AND SAID CLAMPING STRIP AND CLAMPED THEREBETWEEN. 